Alberto Campo Baeza
MA: Andalucia’s Museum of Memory
Granada, Spain
Photo: Fernando Alda
Spreading the message by Alberto Campo Baeza:
“The new building, silent in its forms, is resounding in its elements to communicate the messages of the new millennium in which we are already immersed.
We wanted to design “the most beautiful building” for the Museo de al Memoria de Andalucía (Andalusia’s Museum of Memory) in Granada. The MA is a museum designed to transmit the entire history of Andalusia. In Roman times Strabo described the inhabitants of Andalusia as “The most cultivated of the Iberians, who have laws in verse”
Photo: Fernando Alda
The MA building is in line with the Central Headquarters of the Caja Granada Savings Bank that Campo Baeza completed in 2001. The upper floor of the MA, a three-story podium building measuring 60x120 meters, is at the same level as the podium of the main Caja Granada building.
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
A slim vertical building, the same height and width as the main building of the Caja Granada, gives the illusion of a “Gate to the City.” The dialogue between the two buildings is further accentuated by the use of the same reinforced concrete. Large plasma screens will project images on the facade facing Granada’s main ringway.
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
To access the MA you go through the opening in the vertical building, then continue down a wide staircase to the main entrance.
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
The podium building consists of three floors, access, first floor and garden level, two of them below ground. An elliptical central courtyard, with circular ramps, connects the three levels. The dimensions of the elliptical courtyard were taken from the courtyard of the Palace of Charles the V in the Alhambra.
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
The main entrance to the building is on the ground floor where the reception, administration, workshop, theater and cafeteria are located. The first floor is for temporary exhibition as well as an independent access to the theater.
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
Photo: Fernando Alda
The vertical building consists of 10 floors, the third and fourth floor, a double height mezzanine, connects to the ramp and the vertical circulation. A restaurant, with magnificent views, is located on the 8th floor.
Photo Fernando Alda
The MA open “Field,” a large horizontal platform towards the river, serves as a public space for this new area in the city of Granada.
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Sketch
Model photo courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Model
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Site Plan
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Plan Access Level
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Plan Garden Level
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
First Floor Plan
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Longitudinal Section
Drawing courtesy Alberto Campo Baeza
Cross Section
Total area: 15,000 square meters
Completed: 2008
Client: Caja Granada
Architect: Alberto Campo Baeza
Collaborators
Architects:
Alejandro Cervilla García
Ignacio Aguirre López
Structural Engineers:
Andrés Rubio Morán
Concepción Gutiérrez
Engineering:
R. Úrculo Ingenieros Consultores S.A.
Photographed by Fernando Alda
Alberto Campo Baeza arcspace features
July 6, 2009